The present invention concerns a side impact protective apparatus for a motor vehicle occupant, which is incorporated into a side-wall of a motor vehicle, especially into a motor vehicle door, including a pressure gas source, and a gas bag which can be inflated by the pressure gas source, the gas bag being folded together and arranged in a resting position along an upper edge of the side wall behind an internal covering and exiting upwardly upon unfolding in the region of a railing in the side wall through a slot formed between the upper edge of the covering and the side wall and extending upward along an interior of a side window as impact protection for the head region of the occupant of the motor vehicle.
A known side impact protective apparatus, disclosed in European publication EP 0 771 699 A2, which is of the type mentioned at the beginning, is incorporated into a motor vehicle door and includes a source of pressure gas as well as a gas bag which can be inflated by it. The gasbag is connected to a long-side end region with the pressure gas source, and the other long-side end is connected with the motor vehicle door through a fabric flap. When the gasbag unfolds, the covering of the motor vehicle door is released so that the gasbag exits upward through a slot formed between the upper edge of the covering and the motor vehicle door and extends upward along the interior of the door window as impact protection for the head region of the motor vehicle occupants. An easily detachable connection, for example, a clip connection, is provided in the motor vehicle door window-pane for fastening the covering on the motor vehicle door.
Associated with this arrangement is the disadvantage that the twofold binding of the gasbag to the motor vehicle door is costly and cost-intensive. The configuration of the detachable clip connection is hard to design since the covering must have a certain strength, for example when placing the forearm on the upper side of the covering while driving, while a rapid and secure detaching of the clip connections in the event of an automobile accident must be guaranteed over a relatively large temperature range.
An objective of the invention is to perfect the binding of the upper edge area of a covering on the adjacent side wall, especially motor vehicle doors, in such a way that, on the one hand, a high strength of the covering is attained using simple resources, and in such a way that, on the other hand, a defined exiting of the gas bag during the specified unfolding time between motor vehicle door and covering is guaranteed over a wide temperature range.
This objective is accomplished by way of a covering fastened at a distance to two long-sided ends of the gas bag approximately at the height of a lower edge region of the gas bag on the side wall so that, viewed from the side, an ideal connection line forms a swiveling axis for a pivotal upper region of the covering and at the front side of the covering through two spaced fastenings, with a defined weakening provided approximately at a height of the pivotal upper region. Additional features advantageously refining the invention are claimed.
Primary advantages attained with the invention include that, through a selective fastening of the covering on the motor vehicle door and through a projected weakening on the front face of the covering, a great strength of the covering in normal operation takes place and that a defined swiveling of only the upper edge region of the door covering takes place in the direction of the motor vehicle occupants when the gas bag unfolds.
Advantageously the covering is fastened adjacent to the two long-sided ends of the gas bag on the side wall, especially the motor vehicle door, approximately at the height of the lower edge region of the gas bag, whereby—when viewed from the side—an ideal connection line though the two spaced fastenings forms a pivoting axis for the pivotal upper edge region of the covering. A defined weakening in the covering is provided on the bordering front face of the covering approximately at the height of the side impact protective apparatus. The weakening is created through a tool-dropping notch or through subsequently applied circular bore holes joined with one another or slot-like openings joined with one another. The front face weakening effectively supports the pivoting away of the upper edge region of the covering when the gasbag unfolds. A longitudinally oriented cross section diminution can be provided adjoining the ideal connection line or in a region lying upon it, so that the covering selectively swivels about this region when the gasbag unfolds. Advantageously an encapsulated fabric insert embedded into the carrying element of the covering at least adjoining the side impact protective apparatus is provided. In this way, it is ensured that no undefined tearing of the carrier element occurs when the upper edge region of the covering swivels. The front face fastening screw and the weakening arranged adjoining thereto is covered by a superimposed protective cap.
A design of the invention is depicted in the drawing which is described in greater detail below.